


Everybody Relax!

by elroymarvelous



Category: Ten Inch Hero
Genre: F/M, IM SORRY I BROKE UP TISH AND PRIESTLY, IT WAS FOR TE GOOD OF THE FIC, but - Freeform, for some gr8 Priestly fluff!!, get ready
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-06-09 14:31:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6911056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elroymarvelous/pseuds/elroymarvelous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things at the Sub Shop had become pretty regular. Same people coming in and out each day, even the little weird things Trucker and Zo do weren’t particularly surprising. Tish had gotten another job and only came back a few days a week. She and Priestly decided they were better off friends. He’d entered a cycle of work, mope, work, mope. He stopped cracking jokes, didn’t dye his hair, didn’t do much in general. Piper and Jen decided to take matters into their own hands….</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

You stood in front of a Sub Shop. The awning read Beach City Grill. The sign inside the window said “Help Wanted: Normal people need not apply.” Of course this is where Piper works. Your blonde best friend from art school spends all her free time at what she called “the shop” or with her new boyfriend, Noah. You’d been looking for work, and she managed to convince you to apply to the same shop so that you can work, and spend more time together. Unbeknownst to you, she also wanted to set you up with a certain...pierced friend of hers.  
“Y/N! You’re here!”  
She came rushing out the door and tackle hugged you.  
“C’mon, I have some people you need to meet.”  
She dragged you into the shop, and you’re met with a an interesting picture. A kind looking blond woman sits behind a computer, chewing on a pen. An older looking hippie-type couple lean against the counter, holding hands and talking. A tall, cute guy was cooking behind the counter. He had a bunch of piercings, and looked like he was growing back a mohawk. You tucked a strand of your blue ombre hair behind your ear, and smooth out your faded “Question Authority?” tee shirt. Piper cleared her throat loud enough for the four of them to notice you.  
“Everyone, this is Y/N. She’s my friend from school, and here to interview for the job! Trucker, do your thing.”  
The man walked over to you, and you notice he has a small surfer braid.  
“I’m not normal, as you can tell by my choice of friends.”  
“Hey!”  
Piper slapped you gently on the arm. The woman Trucker had been talking to kissed him on the cheek before gliding away.  
“I have to go open the shop, but my vote is yes.”  
She gave you a kind smile before leaving the shop with the tinkling of the door bell behind her.  
“Vote?”  
Piper looked around at everyone.  
“Should we bother with the interview?”  
“Why the hell not, it is a tradition.”  
The girl at the computer leaned forward, smiling at you.  
“Elvis: dead or alive?”  
“Alive.”  
The guy behind the counter laughed.  
“Finally, someone who agrees with me.”  
Piper asked next.  
“Andy Kaufman?”  
“Dead.”  
“Jerry Garcia?”  
“Dead.”  
“Mariah Carey.”  
“Singing: alive. Acting: dead.”  
A woman from a booth behind you spoke next.  
“Why’d you come to Santa Cruz?”  
“I’m in art school with Piper.”  
Everyone looked pointedly at the man in the next booth over.  
“Mr. Julius? The infamous question?”  
“Are you a virgin?”  
You laughed at that one.  
“No. But I was one not too long ago.”  
Piper clapped her hands together.  
“Alright! Time to vote, all in favor?”  
Piper and the guy behind the counter raised their hands first, followed quickly by the girl behind the counter, Mr. Julius, Trucker and the lady in the booth. Trucker handed you an apron with a smile.  
“Welcome to the family.”  
You grinned, following Piper behind the counter to show you the ropes. She introduced you to everyone.  
“This is Jen.”  
“Hi.”  
You smiled and shook her hand.  
“And this,”  
The guy turned to face you and you noticed his shirt. It was orange and read ‘You Can Read!’ You immediately decided you liked him. He seemed a lot like you.  
“Is Priestly.”


	2. Chapter 2

You fit right in at Beach City Grill. After a week, you were fast friends with all of them, especially Priestly. Both of you had a similar taste in hair, fashion, and even humor. At least twice a day you two would an exchange that would go something like,  
“Nice shirt, Priestly.”  
“You know, Y/N, if you like it now, it’ll look even better on your floor.”  
“Hmmm, one problem, my floor is sort of part of a murder investigation at the moment, so…”  
These would usually be followed by chuckles from Jen and a remark about background checks from Trucker.   
“Y/N?”  
You snapped out of your thoughts, finding yourself face to face with Tish. You’d first met the beautiful brunette a few weeks before. The day she walked into the shop was the day you buried your crush on Priestly. You could tell he was in love, even before Jen filled you in on what happened between them.   
“Hey Tish, how are you today?”  
“Good, I’m glad to be back at my favorite place.”  
“Are you hungry?”  
“I could always go for a turkey melt.”  
You forced a smile.  
“Coming right up.”  
You couldn’t bring yourself to dislike Tish. She was always nice to you, she was just…..perfect. She just happened to have made the mistake of breaking up with Priestly.   
“Here you go.”  
You slid Tish her sandwich before turning to find something to do. You decided to take out the trash, as it got you out of the room. As you deposited the bag outside, Priestly’s car pulled up, blasting some obscure punk song. He greeted you with a smile, stepping out of his car.   
“Hey Y/N. I got a question for you.”  
“Shoot.”  
“Are you a camera? Because whenever I see you, I smile.”  
“You must know a lot of cameras. Oh, by the way, Tish is here.”  
His smile faltered, which was not what you expected.  
“Oh. Okay.”  
“I-uh, figured you’d want to say hi or something….”  
“Sure…”  
He walked passed you, previous warmth gone. You sighed, leaning against the dumpster. You shouldn’t have said that. He wasn’t over her, and you made it worse. Why would you do that? You figured out a good way to apologize. You headed back into the shop, seeing Tish and Priestly awkwardly ignore each other while Jen sat absorbed in the computer.   
“Hey Priestly?”  
“What?”  
“What’s your shirt made out of?”  
“Cotton?”  
“Oh. I could’ve sworn it was boyfriend material.”  
Your spirits lifted at the giant grin spread across his face. You turned, starting to clean the grill, missing the conspiratorial look being shared by Tish and Jen, and the way the Priestly was staring at you.


	3. Chapter 3

“Okay people, what’s the plan?”  
Trucker, Jen, Piper, and Tish were all gathered at Jen’s apartment, trying to come up with ways to get you and Priestly together.   
“What if we get them to go dye their hair together?”  
“How would that get them together?”  
“I don’t know….”  
“We could rig the schedule so they’re always on the same shifts?”  
“I like that one.”  
“What if we try to set them up with other people to make the other one jealous?”  
“That’s risky...but it might be the most effective plan.”  
“So how about we do both? Rig the schedule and find some people to set them up with.”  
Tish rubbed her hands together mischievously.   
“I like playing matchmaker!”  
Piper chimes in, somewhat concerned.   
“We have to make sure we set them up with TERRIBLE dates though. We can’t risk accidentally getting one of them to date a totally separate person.”  
“Good point. Got anyone in mind?”  
“Oh! There’s this guy in my art class. He’s a real douchebag….totally moons over Y/N.”  
“Is he her type?”  
“Hell. No. It’s perfect!”  
“Okay...so what about Priestly?”  
Silence descended upon the four of them as they thought. Trucker was the first to be struck with inspiration.   
“Emi!”  
“Who?”  
“She’s a regular at Zo’s store, and she’s the opposite of Y/N. I doubt it’s a good match. Besides, she’s in her early 40s.”  
“Definitely a good choice.”  
“So how is this gonna go down?”  
****  
You sigh, shrugging on a stylish leather jacket over your faded ACDC shirt. You pull on some combat boots and run a hand through your hair. Piper had managed to convince you to go on a blind date and you still had no friggin clue why you said yes.   
“Y/N! Are you almost ready?”  
“Do I have to go?”  
“Yes. You should be out there, meeting people! Work it!”  
“Pipes….”  
“Please? Humor me?”  
“Ugh, fine.”  
You exited your bedroom and did a little twirl for her.   
“Ta da.”  
“Damn girl. Okay, you’re meeting him at the the corner of Milton and Davis in half an hour. Are you ready?”  
“I guess so…”  
****  
Your date was going horribly. Piper had set you up with Trent. Trent. You thought the girl knew you! You wouldn’t go out with rich guys who are used to getting whatever they want and never have to use more than 2% of their brains. The only highlight was when he took you to a local bar you enjoy. Piper probably told him to take you there as you doubt Trent frequents a bar full of punks, goths, and alternatives. You were taking far too much pleasure in the lost look in his eyes when a voice startled you.   
“Y/N?”  
“Priestly! Hi!”  
“Hey. Who-uh, is this?”  
Trent, readopting his football player gruff arrogance, sticks out a hand.   
“Trent.”  
“Priestly.”  
“Hey kid. Come dance with me.”  
A middle-aged looking woman came up behind Priestly and laid a badly manicured hand on his shoulder. He flinched at the contact, making your start to boil.  
“No thanks Emi.”  
Without any warning, Trent took your hand, pulling you forcefully out of the booth.   
“Let’s go.”  
“What? We just got here!”  
He dragged you outside into the night breeze, bar door clattering shut behind you.   
“Look Y/N, I brought you the bar, I paid for dinner. I think I deserve my reward.”  
You let out a humorless laugh.   
“Reward?”  
“Yeah. So let’s. Go.”  
“No!”  
“Excuse me?”  
“No. I don’t want to sleep with you.”  
“Sure you do.”  
“No. I. Don’t. So let me go.”  
You were still trying to keep a calm and tough exterior, but you were starting to panic a bit. Trent clearly wants to get his way, and is about twice your size…  
“Hey asshole! She doesn’t want to sleep with you!”  
Priestly shoved himself in front of you, a deadly serious look in his eyes. Trent huffed, frustrated enough to let you go and stomp away.   
“The slut wasn’t worth it anyway!”  
“Hey! She-”  
Priestly started to follow him but you grabbed his arm.   
“Stop. It’s not worth it.”  
He finally turned to you, looking you over for any injuries. Satisfied that you were all in one piece, he pulled you into a tight hug. You pressed the side of your face into his chest, enjoying the safety that came along with it.   
“Worst. Blind date. Ever.”  
He laughed, pulling away from you. You immediately wish he didn’t as the night air hit you.   
“Tell me about it. Can I walk you home milady?”  
“But of course sir.”  
He took your hand gently and you two began to walk to your place. You wear a soft smile the whole way.


	4. Chapter 4

Much to the dismay of Piper, Jen, Tish, and Trucker, nothing seemed to have changed between you and Priestly the next day.   
“So Y/N, how was the date?”  
“Horrible. The end wasn’t too bad though…”  
You and Priestly looked at each other and smiled softly. He’d walked you home and said that if anything like that ever happened again you could always call him. He’d hugged you and left. Nothing significant had happened, but things seemed...different. The two of you were closer now.   
“Priestly? How was yours?”  
“Waaaay too old.”  
“Hey now, she’s the same age as me.”  
“Yeah but you’re young on the inside, Trucker.”  
“Thanks angel.”  
You smiled at the nickname. You felt like you were officially one of them since Trucker started calling you ‘angel.’   
****  
You slide a sandwich to the last customer in line, and take a breath. The lunch rush is always a bit crazy. Your phone began to ring, and you fished it out of your back pocket. You answer it, stepping out back to you won’t be distracting.   
“Y/N L/N?”  
“Yes?”  
“It’s Grace Delise. I’m the landlord of your apartment building.”  
“Oh. Hi.”  
“Ms. L/N, I’m sorry to inform you that there was a pipe break and all the apartments on your floor flooded.”  
“Oh.”  
“You may be able to salvage a few things once the flooding is dealt with, but for now you’ll have to find another place to stay.”  
“Okay...thank you for calling me.”  
“No problem. Good luck.”  
Well fuck.   
You trudged dejectedly back into the shop. Priestly noticed first, and immediately came over to you.  
“Hey, what’s wrong?”  
“My apartment is flooded.”  
Piper’s eyes widened.  
“That’s awful!”  
Jen shook her head sympathetically.   
“I’m sorry Y/N.”  
“I need to find a place to stay.”  
Piper laid a hand over yours.   
“I wish you could stay with me, but Noah is taking Julia and I out of town and-”  
“That’s fine Pipes, don’t worry. I’ll just get a hotel room or-”  
“You can stay with me.”  
Everyone turned to look at Priestly. He didn’t notice, as his attention was solely on you. Your heart warmed at his kindness.  
“Are you sure?”  
“Of course! I-you’re one of my closest friends. Plus, I might finally figure out who does your hair.”  
You jumped up and wrapped your arms around his neck.   
“Thank you so much! You’re the best!”  
He hugged you back, trying to hide his blush in your hair. Unfortunately for him, Jen and Piper saw. They both shared a victorious look and went back to work.   
****  
“So this is the place.”  
His apartment is surprisingly neat. There were punk and metal posters scattered on the walls, a few bookshelves, couch, and TV. The kitchen was attached to the living room, and an open door revealed the bedroom.   
“I’ll take the couch, and you can have my bed.”  
“What? No. Priestly, this is your place. I’ll be fine on the couch.”  
“Hell no. What kind of host-”  
“How about we switch every oth-”  
“No, really. Take the bed.”  
“This is ridiculous! We’re both adults. We can share.”  
He swallowed thickly and scratched the back of his neck.   
“Fine.”  
“Great! Now, I kind of don’t have any clothes. Should I go shopping now, or-”  
“You can borrow something of mine if you want?”  
“Are you sure? I feel like I’m taking a lot of your stuff.”  
“I’m sure. Besides, you already said you like my shirts.”  
“True enough.”  
****  
You were awake. You and Priestly had gone to bed at least an hour ago. Somehow you just….couldn’t sleep. You heard him breath. You felt the mere inch or two between your bodies. You had the resounding urge to kiss him, but you held back. He wasn’t not over Tish. You’d ruin the friendship. Stay still. He moved slightly and his hand bumped yours. You jerked your away as fast a possible, scared that the physical contact would melt your resolve.   
“Y/N?”  
“Yeah?”  
“So you can’t sleep either?”  
“Nope.”  
Don’t move. Don’t say anything. Don’t kiss him. Just. Don’t. Move.   
“I think I’ll go sleep on the couch.”  
He sat up, about to leave the room. You felt cold all of a sudden without him next to you. You grabbed his wrist faster than you could blink.   
“It’s fine. Please stay?”  
“Sure.”  
He slid his hand up so that his fingers were entwined with yours. When he lay back down, you two faced each other. You could see his green eyes looking back at you in the dim light of the bedroom. Don’t kiss him. Don’t kiss him. Kiss him. Don’t kiss him.   
“Goodnight Priestly.”  
“Goodnight Y/N.”


	5. Chapter 5

You woke up slowly. Wonderfully warm and comfortable, you didn’t remember where you were until you felt an arm tighten around your waist. 

Oh right. Shit. 

You opened your eyes hesitantly, scared of what exactly you might’ve been faced with. 

Priestly was lying there, facing you. His eyes were closed, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Your noses were barely touching. You tried to move back as slowly as possible, but the arm he had around you held you firmly in place. The very slight movement must have roused him. He blinked a few times, revealing those gorgeous green eyes to you. 

“Good morning.”

His voice was lower and more gravely than usual. You don’t know how didn’t kiss him right then. 

“H-hi. Sleep well?”

“Yeah. You look so beautiful in the morning.”

Wait, what? 

“I do?”

“Well, you look beautiful all the time. It’s actually very distracting.”

“Priestly, what-”

“I’m just trying to say that I..well, I-”

You officially lost all self control at that point. Grabbing the back of his neck, you pulled him to you, pressing a kiss to his lips. He kissed back right away, hands pressing against your lower back. You curled against him, smiling into the kiss. 

Finally. 

After a while, you pulled away, grinning at him. He grinned back. 

“I really like you.”

“I really like you too.”

“I’m just in it for your shirts.”

“Well then, should we see how they look on the floor?”

You giggled, more than happy to oblige.

****

“So, how are we going to tell everyone?”

“What if we don’t?”

“What?”

“I’m pretty sure they’ve been trying to set us up this whole time.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“So what’s your plan?”

“We just go about it like we would as if we told them. So if you want PDA, we’ll do that. They’ll be so surprised.”

“I like this. It’s a little mean though.”

“Yeah, well they set us up with Trent and Emi,”

“Fair enough.”


	6. Chapter 6

You wound around the end of the counter, walking over to wipe down a table. A familiar hand grabbed your wrist, effectively stopping you. 

“No kiss goodbye?”

“Babe, I’m literally going ten feet away.”

You kissed him anyway, chuckling at how mushy he’d gotten. Walking by the register, you don’t miss Piper and Jen high-fiving. 

“Really?”

“What! It’s just so cute.”

“OTP!”

You rolled your eyes, starting to wipe down the table. 

“You two are ridiculous.”

“Yeah, but you owe us.”

“Shush.”

****

“Here’s your six-inch turkey melt. Can I get you something else today?”

You slid the sandwich over to the guy across the counter. 

“Your number would be nice.”

“Sure, you can get it from my boyfriend. He’s the one with the mohawk by the grill over there.”

As if on cue, Priestly came up behind you, smiling innocently at the guy. He turned bright red and left in a hurry. Giggling, you pressed a kiss to his clothed shoulder. 

“As smooth as that was, next time, could you try not to scare away the customers?”

“No promises Trucker.”

The older man just sighed, going back to his newspaper. 

****

“Are you ever going to give back that shirt?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“It looks reaaaaally good on me.”

“It would look better on the floor.”

“Don’t I know it.”

He picked you up and threw you over his shoulder. You laughed as he carried you to the bedroom.

****

“Y/N?”

“Yeah Boaz?”

“I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”

You laughed, flipping over on the bed to kiss his cheek. 

“Yeah Priestly?”

“How long have we been together?”

“Ummmm five months?”

“And you don’t exactly spend a lot of time at your place-”

“Priestly…”

“Do you-would you want to move in with me?”

“Hell yes.”

He smiled and you kissed him hard. You’d have to remember to thank Piper for telling you about the job opening. 


End file.
